This invention relates generally to a stowable and inflatable vehicle and, more particularly, to an adaptation thereof for use as a decoy space vehicle.
As is well known in the art, stowable vehicles which are mechanically erected, or are otherwise "fully opened" entirely mechanically, have inherent and severe disadvantages. Some of the more serious of these disadvantages and limitations are: inferior structural integrity, particularly in space (i.e., the region beyond the earth's atmosphere); and, where the vehicle is of stiff material (as it must be to withstand travel in certain environments) and the material is to be folded and stowed, experience has proven that the stiff material is difficult to fold, and that it is even more difficult to unfold solely by mechanical means; and, also the use of stiff material has meant to date in the art that a large storage volume is necessary to stow the folded vehicle. We have invented a stowable vehicle which may have stiff material(s) which are to be unfolded, which said vehicle is described herein as adapted for use as a decoy space vehicle, and the structure of which eliminates, or at the very least greatly minimizes, the above-mentioned (and other) severe inherent disadvantages and limitations. Thereby, we have significantly advanced the state-of-the-art.